Affordable Housing

CITY HALL — The City Council on Tuesday put the brakes on a potential affordable-housing project after several members said the process had run afoul of established procedures. The Housing Authority on Tuesday was set to discuss the potential for building a new affordable-housing project on city-owned property near the corner of Sonora Avenue and 5th Street in northwest Glendale. But the City Council postponed any action after several council members questioned a presentation from an affordable-housing developer, which Councilman John Drayman said sounded "an awful lot like an attempt to circumvent a process.

CITY HALL — Habitat for Humanity's seventh Glendale project — a $3.7-million, five-unit affordable-housing complex near the Ventura (134) Freeway — will break ground next year after it received city approval Tuesday. The City Council voted 4 to 0 on Tuesday to provide the property at 624-630 Geneva Street — which the city bought in 2006 for $2.5 million — to the nonprofit to build five three-bedroom units and a community garden. "I think this is going to be a terrific asset to the city," said Councilman John Drayman.

Robert Chacon Rising rents drove Maryam Radman out of Glendale four years ago, and an affordable-housing project brought her back. Her new home, Heritage Park at Glendale, held a grand-opening ceremony Wednesday. It is the latest affordable-housing project completed in the city and the 11th such development providing more than 620 units for low-income seniors, families and disabled residents. "I love it here," Radman said. "It is very comfortable.

In 1977, I returned home from the Air Force as a disabled veteran, beat down and almost helpless at the age of 21. I began an incredible journey through red tape, poverty and doors slammed in my face. I was never told "welcome home," and I feel unwelcome as of today. I begged for help as I struggled to support myself, my wife and two sons. I was told that the veterans disability compensation I received made me ineligible for assistance. I tried to hold down more than 50 jobs.

Sona Mooradian, an administrative analyst for the city’s Housing Authority, is scheduled to appear live Thursday on “The Larry Zarian Show” to discuss the state of affordable housing in Glendale. Demand has typically far outstripped the supply of affordable housing in Glendale, despite a slate of development built over the past several years. Mooradian will likely discuss the length of current wait lists for housing vouchers and entry into the stock of affordable housing projects in Glendale and what plans the city has for future developments.

CITY HALL — As federal officials begin to investigate alleged fraud surrounding Advanced Development & Investment Inc., city officials are grappling with what it means for the dozens of low-income families hoping to move into the affordable housing developer's latest project. ADI — under federal investigation for allegations that the firm's top officials transferred millions to personal accounts and bilked cities out of millions in taxpayer dollars — has built four projects in Glendale and received nearly $34 million in city assistance.

The daily phone calls at City Hall from people seeking affordable housing options are a constant reminder of how demand continues to outstrip supply. And with the demise of local redevelopment, officials warn there's little chance of the trend reversing any time soon. “We hear these people and their situations on a daily basis,” said Peter Zovak, Glendale's deputy housing director. “We know it continues to be difficult.” For every new project, there are thousands of interested applicants.

Officials this week broke ground on a new affordable housing development that will feature 20 one- and two-bedroom apartments. The Catalina Development - funded by the city's Redevelopment Agency - will the first all-new residential project for the nonprofit Burbank Housing Corp., which will end up owning and operating the venture. The nonprofit typically rehabs existing buildings to use for low-income housing, but the Catalina property was “so substandard and severely blighted,” executive director Judith Arandes said, that nothing could be salvaged.

The Fhardos have been waiting for subsidized housing assistance in Glendale for 13 years and, after attending an affordable housing informational meeting hosted by the city Monday night, the elderly couple said they felt more in the know, but frustrated by their slim chances. “It's so hard,” said 62-year-old Angela Fhardo, who cares for her blind husband, Jose. The retired husband and wife were two of 12,000 people who applied for Section 8 housing in Glendale back in 2001.

Today is Friday, Dec. 13, 2013 and the high in Glendale is predicted to reach 71 and low of 43 . Here are the top headlines from the 818 area code region: Hikers in Griffith Park were stunned this week when they discovered that an often-photographed tree at a scenic overlook near the Hollywood sign was torn from its roots and tossed on its side, the Los Angeles Times reports . The 8-foot =cypress tree was located in an open...

Glendale's stock of affordable housing falls far short of meeting the community's need and officials say the loss of state redevelopment dollars means there's little the city can do to bridge the gap. Waiting lists for city-monitored rental housing that serves low-income and disabled residents often contain hundreds of people competing for future vacancies in buildings with just a few dozen units to begin with, according to a report submitted to...

Two planned affordable housing projects that will give priority to military veterans have received millions more in state and federal subsidies. On Tuesday, the City Council, in its dual role as the Housing Authority, approved giving Veterans Village and Cypress Senior Living about $1.8 million, and a state commission recently doled out $1.5 million for the projects. Veterans will be given priority in applying for the new 44-unit Veterans Village at 327-331 W. Salem St. and the 18-unit Cypress Senior Living, a rehabilitation project at 311 E. Cypress St. The city's extra funding - $1.28 million for Veterans Village and $531,000 for Cypress Senior Living - came after the city discovered additional federal money that had to be used or risk being returned to Washington, D.C. In addition to the federal loans, Veterans Village and Cypress Senior Living also netted $1.2 million and $300,000, respectively, from a state commission charged with doling out federal tax credits.

Most residents at a new downtown luxury apartment complex featuring a 26,000-square-foot sky deck, a dog park and high-tech gym will be paying $1,500 to $2850 a month, but for a select few, the price of admission will drop dramatically. In the coming weeks, Eleve Lofts & Skydeck at 200 E. Broadway plans to open applications for low-income earners to live in 14 of the building's units that will be priced about two-thirds, or more, below what other residents will be paying. The exact opening date of the application period has yet to be confirmed.

Glendale housing officials plan to tap reserves in order to save an estimated 112 households from losing affordable housing vouchers as a result of the across-the-board federal spending cuts known as sequestration. City officials expect to lose at least $1 million in Section 8 money due to the automatic budget cuts, which would affect about 4% of the roughly 3,050 voucher recipients living in Glendale were it not for the reserves. "All the housing authorities are going through this," said Deputy Housing Director Peter Zovak after a City Hall meeting this week about the program.

Glendale's planned affordable housing development that will focus on veterans is getting a funding boost from the county. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday in gave the project $850,000 in county funds as part of a motion to issue $11 million to eight affordable housing developments across the county. They gave the recommendation a first reading, and the motion will be voted on at next Tuesday's meeting. Veterans Village, located at 327-331 W. Salem St., will include 44 units that give priority to veterans who qualify for low-income housing.

Glendale's oldest affordable housing complex is set to receive $20 million in private revenue bonds to help keep rent below market rates for residents at the 34-year-old building for another 55 years. It's a welcome extension since it may take at least 10 years to house the nearly 940 people on the closed waiting list for Casa de la Paloma's coveted one-bedroom apartments. Residents at the facility must be older than 55. Once they move in, they tend to either stay there for life or until they move into a nursing home.

One of the most complicated, important and obscure functions in California's state budget will begin on Thursday, as Gov. Jerry Brown's administration starts tallying up leftover funds from defunct redevelopment agencies. The agencies are being dissolved this year, and the Brown administration is counting on $3.1 billion in cash and property tax revenue to help close the deficit. The redevelopment money is being routed to local schools and community colleges, which lightens the load on the state budget.

Once slated for a multifamily housing project, to be built by an affordable housing developer that the city is now suing for fraud, a central Glendale site is on its way to becoming a “Veterans Village.” With a unanimous vote, the City Council, in its dual role as the Housing Authority, agreed to partner with an affordable housing developer on Tuesday to build a roughly $15.5-million project that will give preference to veterans. “It's a great day for Glendale,” said Mayor Frank Quintero, a Vietnam War veteran.